by S A Pavli
Chapter 43
The EDF attack began a few minutes later. We brought one of our fighters closer to the action to get a view of it. The heavy battleships came in close to the Freylan, expecting it to respond with missiles and lasers, but the Peacekeeper remained quiescent. A number of small craft were released and they clamped themselves onto the hull of the ship next to a huge hole. A stream of Space suited marines came from the landing crafts. They were heavily armed, some of them enclosed in a metallic skeleton with manoeuvring thrusters and a heavy lethal looking gun.
I began to suspect that our military was itching for an excuse, however thin, to try out their toys. The marines launched themselves into the Peacekeeper, weapons at the ready. It was long before they met resistance. Laser beams stabbed out, bouncing off the marine’s armour. A couple of missiles, the small contrails easily visible, snaked out and two unfortunate marines were hit. I cursed the stubborn refusal of the EDF to use our soldier bots to front the attack. It would have prevented any casualties.
Their colleagues carried them back to their ship while the others pressed the attack home. The remaining soldier robots were running out of ammunition I was sure because there seemed to be little resistance. They were heavily outnumbered by the marines who were setting up a lethal barrage, driving the remaining soldier robots back.
Unfortunately for them, as they retreated they came under fire from Cora’s three soldiers, who were fully and heavily armed. Trapped between two attacking forces they were soon decimated.
But predictable, the very thing I had warned the Admiral about, came to pass. The marines, mistaking our robots for Peacekeepers, began firing on them. They immediately returned a devastating conflagration of missiles, lasers and bullets. The marines were brought to a sudden and disastrous halt, dozens of their numbers dying either immediately, or more slowly as their spacesuits were breached.
They retreated hastily, taking up defensive positions at the entrance to the ship. Our soldiers robots did not pursue them, their task being to defend the hostages. It was a stand off and the marines prepared to again do the very thing I had warned them not to do, to bring in heavier weapons.
I cursed fluently and violently before asking Colrania to get the Admiral back on the comm.
“Admiral, are these idiots listening to anything we are telling them?” I spoke forcefully and I could see the Admiral was none too pleased, but he heroically restrained himself.
“They are aware that we have soldier robots guarding the hostages, but I am afraid they mistook them for the enemy. Now that they have disengaged we can put that right.”
“All right Admiral. I will ask Cora to come forward and talk to the marines. They won’t mistake her for the enemy I presume?”
“I hope not. I will warn them to expect her. The commanding officer of the attack squadron will go forward to converse.”
“Good. Wait for my go ahead please Admiral.”
“Understood.”
“Colrania, please get me Cora.”
Once I had explained to Cora what should happen I called the Admiral and gave him the go ahead. We all sat with bated breath while Cora walked regally down the corridor and stopped 50 meters from the marine’s front line. A figure in an armoured spacesuit appeared from behind the fortifications and walked slowly towards her.
I had to confess, it was pretty dramatic. The whole of the worlds population must have been glued to their 3Ds. Who was the young Captain who was about to converse with a beautiful alien android? He would no doubt dine out on this story for a very long time!
“I am Cora. I am the master AI for the Hianja Peacekeeper force.”
“I am Captain Simon Johansson.”
“We have the hostages secure. Captain, Please instruct your men not to fire on my soldier robots. They are programmed to fire back automatically.”
“Yes Miss Cora. They are stood down at present and will remain so until I say otherwise. Can we see the hostages?” asked the Captain.
“Yes of course. You must make practicable arrangements to transport them from here to a more conducive environment. Some of them are sick and injured.”
“Thank you Cora. We have prepared suitable facilities for that. As soon as I see where they are, we can work out how to get them out.”
I leaned back with relief. At last, things seem to be going well. The Captain followed Cora through the internal air lock and into the accommodation area. Cora had closed the hostages into an internal room for further protection. They were a bedraggled group of people, fortunately all men and women with no children. But they had been given water to drink and seemed generally in good health, apart from a couple who had superficial injuries. To my surprise the Captain spoke Russian. He removed his helmet to reveal a blonde crew cut, thin lipped face, hook nose and cold blue eyes. Not quite handsome hero material, but his quiet and confident manner as he circulated amongst the hostages reassured them.
“Outside of this habitation module, the ship has no air,” he explained to the hostages. “We will have to bring in small pressurised vehicles to transport you two at a time to our ships. Have no fear friends, you are now safe.”
“Who is this lady?” someone asked.
“Is she an android?”
“Is she one of ours?”
“She came here and told us we would be okay.”
“She brought us back here to be safe.”
There was a babble of voices as they asked questions but he waved them down.
“Please be patient. Everything will be explained.”
“I will leave things to you and your men Captain.,” said Cora. “Please get the hostages off this ship so that we can asses the damage to see if it is repairable.”
“Er… madam. We have been told to take the ship, and hold it.”
Oh shit! I thought. Just when you thought it could get no worse.
“This ship is the property of the Hianja Federation. You will leave as soon as you have evacuated the hostages,” said Cora firmly.
“I have my orders Madam. You will have to talk with my superiors.”
“Be informed that if this ship is not evacuated in six hours, I will begin a fusion chain reaction what will vaporise this ship and anyone in it.”
The Captain eyes stared in alarm. He looked confused, and the hostages started to talk amongst themselves with increasing panic.
“Get us off this ship!” someone shouted.
“I want to go home,” a female voice wailed.
“All right!,” the Captain shouted, holding his arms up. “I will organise your evacuation now.” He cast a last speculative look at Cora, put his helmet on, then headed back along the corridor to his men.
I leaned back in my seat, too tired and dispirited to even swear. I looked at Hamo and he shook his head.
“Hamo, my friend. You had better get all your friends on the Guardian Council, indeed the whole Hianja delegation, to put their weight behind Cora. Otherwise we may have to destroy two very valuable starships.” It was Colrania who spoke up first.
Hamo, Paul, I’m not sure we have the facilities here to repair these ships.”
“Possibly,” I agreed. “But you should be allowed the time to look them over and decide.”
“I will talk to the delegation. We can put in the strongest protest but if the Earth authorities believe that the ships are the spoils of war, they leave us no options.”
“Can Cora blow up the ship?” I asked.
“Oh yes,” said Colrania. “There is an emergency destruct facility that overloads the fusion power supply. It can’t be stopped once started.”
“What do we do if they call our bluff and leave the soldiers on the ship?” I asked.
Colrania, Manera and Hamo looked at me as if I was insane.
“They would not do that!” Manera voice was both shocked, and questioning.
“Surely not.” Hamo looked disbelieving.
“The would calculate that since Hianja are so peace loving, they
would be morally unable to push a button to kill hundreds, maybe thousands of people.”
“And they would right,” said Manera. “But it’s not us that will push the button, it’s Cora. And you can be sure that she would.
I knew Manera was right. Cora’s prime directive was to protect Hianja. She could not allow Peacekeeper military technology to fall into the hands of Humans. There was no question that she would push the button.
“Damn, you are right darling.”
“We must make them understand that. We would have no power over Cora in this instance.”
I nodded my agreement.
“Hamo, I think this would have more power if it came from the delegation. They must speak to those at the top, not the military but politicians, the scientific community, the media, writers. Everyone.”
“I agree,” said Hamolatonen. “I will call a conference now. Please excuse me.”
We watched the feed from the Freylan for a while. Cora and her soldier robots prowled around the ship while the Earth forces organised the evacuation of the hostages. They had small piloted rigs, sealed and able to carry two adults. They were able to make their way into the Peacekeeper starship, all the way to the Hostages sealed area and enter through the airlock. The big ship’s gravity generators were down so there was no artificial gravity. They had four of the little rigs and they all made four journeys to evacuate the hostages.
Media attention was intense and the military made great play of their ‘victory’. There was, of course, no mention of the part played by the Hianja forces. I thought our military were callous and calculating. They had wantonly and unnecessarily sacrificed the lives of dozens of young men. I kept well away from any media exposure. I did not want to be associated with the exercise in any way.
I was afraid that in the case of the Earth military versus Cora, it was the irresistible force meeting the immovable object. The result could only be disaster.
Chapter 44
I took a break and went for some lunch with Manera and Colrania and some of the crew. We should have been jubilant after pulling off a great achievement in bringing down the Freylan and rescuing the hostages, but there was an air of silent worry about all of us.
We heard from the crew occupying the Pramasticon that it was repairable. At least that was in the hands of Hianja forces and the EDF had no excuse to go there. The giant Peacekeeper ships were built with enormous metal ‘carapaces’, designed as armour, but also to shed the huge amounts of heat put out by the AG, Hyperspace and Fusion generators. The sensitive technology was deep inside the multi layer metal, fibre and plastic protection. There was a good chance that the Freylan would also be fixable. Which, from the Hianja point of view, made it even more imperative that it did not fall into Human hands.
We had no idea how the top level negotiations between Hianja and Human were going when we heard from Captain Hamo that Cora had pre-empted the whole procedure. She had announced unequivocally that the ship would explode in six hours. The fusion runaway had been initiated and only she could stop it.
The Hianja delegation attempted to explain to their Human opposite numbers that Cora, in this situation, was programmed to operate outside Hianja control. They could do nothing to stop her. The Human delegation did not believe them. It’s your AI, tell it to obey you, was their response.
The hours ticked by with no outcome. The Earth Defence force held their ground, in fact they were reinforced by additional troops. Cora and her soldier robots were nowhere to be seen. We had lost contact with them. Just when we thought things could not get any worse, EDF forces in the shape of a huge battleship arrived and dozens of landing craft exited the big ship. Hundreds of marines with all manner of weapons entered the Freylan through the many damaged places in its hull. They spread throughout the ship and found its control room.
Cora was there with her robot soldiers and I expected a conflagration, but surprisingly, Cora offered to leave the ship. She was escorted to the place where she had entered and was picked up, with the soldiers, by a waiting Peacekeeper fighter. She was on her way back to us!
We scrambled down to the control room to wait for her. Meanwhile, the media were carrying feeds of the marines in the control room of the Peacekeeper. They had brought in the best technical brains in the planet and were studying the controls and equipment. They clearly thought that they could stop the fusion process, and if they didn’t, the Hianja would not have the guts to blow the ship with hundreds of humans on board.
I turned to Manera.
“What the stupid bastards don’t realise is that they are not dealing with the Hianja. They are dealing with the Peacekeepers. And that, as they say in Camden market, is a wholly different kettle of fish my old china.” I was being flippant to cover my despair. I knew what would happen and that it would deal a death blow to Human Hianja relations for many years to come. We had failed.
Cora arrived a few minutes later.
“It will not be possible for us to fix the Freylan,” she declared. “The damage to the Hyperspace switch is not reparable, it needs replacement. The AG generator is blown and also needs major work. We have to destroy the ship.”
Hamolatonen nodded.
“Cora, thank you for your work. You have put your life at risk. But can I ask you, can the Humans find a way to stop the fusion chain reaction?”
“No. All the controls have been removed. The AI and all its subsidiary processors are down and initialised. Once the emergency destruct initiates, nothing can stop it.”
“How long?” I asked.
“In Human time, seventy five minutes.”
“Bloody hell, shouldn’t we be getting away?”
“Yes, I think that would be a good idea,” said Hamolatonen. “Paul, please do your best to persuade your people to leave the ship.”
I sighed heavily, and fatalistically.
“Colrania, get me the Admiral.”
“Paul, I have a communication for you. It is from your AI, Alfred.” What could Alfred want at this time I asked myself.
“Alfred, what can I do for you old bean?”
“Paul, sorry to interrupt your work. What is the status of the fusion chain reaction on the Freylan?”
“I’m afraid it‘s approaching critical Alfred. We are about to leave the area now.”
“Is there no way of stopping it?”
“I am assured by Cora that there is no way it can be stopped.”
“But there are three hundred and seventy five people on that ship.”
“Alfred, they have been warned numerous times. Not only have they ignored the warnings, they have brought even more people to the ship. The responsibility for this rests with the Earth authorities.”
“But Paul, this is a Hianja ship that will explode and kill hundreds of Humans. Do you not see the significance of this?”
“I do, very much so Alfred.” I felt the ship start to move under me as Hamo issued commands. “We are leaving now. Alfred, do what you can to impress upon them that there is no stopping the fusion reaction. They must get out now.”
“I will do what I can Paul.”
“Paul, I cannot get the Admiral. He is not responding.” Colrania looked gloomy and I nodded at her sympathetically.
“Keep trying Colrania. It’s all we can do.” I strapped myself to my seat as I felt the ship lurch, turn and start to accelerate. We would be using both AG and fusion rockets and accelerating at three to four gravities, an incredible pace for a ship this size. The Earth battle fleet would no doubt look on with disbelief as the huge ship accelerated as fast as one of their fighters.
We were still getting feeds from the media outlets, but as our ship accelerated away from the Freylan we saw no reaction from the people on board the doomed ship. There was no sign of anyone leaving, or indeed any panic or concern. The engineers were deep in conference in the control room, studying the alien machinery and trying to make sense of it.
I groaned and held my head in my hands. The pain I was feel
ing was becoming unbearable and Manera cuddled me solicitously.
“Please do something,” I moaned. Please leave the ship.” Manera held me close and I felt her warm tears on my cheek.
“Krusniet is on,” said Hamolatonen. On the 3D, Krusniet was talking, Next to him and behind him stood the whole of the Hianja delegation.
“…… and I implore our Human friends to understand that we, the Hianja delegation, have no control over the Peacekeeper ships, except in a very general way. The master AI, who you know as Cora, has decided that Peacekeeper military technology cannot be allowed to get into Human hands. The ship Freylan cannot be repaired and she has decided it must be destroyed. A Fusion reaction has been initiated which will vaporise the ship. I beg you to immediately vacate the ship. You have half an hour to get clear. Please do so immediately, I beg you again. There is no way to stop the explosion.”
I forced myself to follow what was happening, despite my fatalism. I started to see some excitement in the control room, Some of the engineers were shouting and gesticulating. A couple of them started to run to the exits and the soldiers stopped them. I strained to hear what was being said.
“Don’t you understand?” One of the engineers was shouting. “The reaction is going critical. We can’t stop it. We need to be out of here. Now!”
“It’s a bluff.” The officer intervened. “It won’t blow.”
“Who is the fucking expert here?” The engineer was vehement. “I’ve been looking at fusion reactions all my life, and some have got out of control. I’ve never seen one this advanced. Listen to me you moron. We have to leave.”
“I have to talk to my superiors.”
“You talk to your superiors. I’m fucking leaving. Shoot me if you dare.” He turned and stomped out. After a few seconds, his friends scuttled after him, leaving the military looking at each other.
“Fuck this Captain. If it doesn’t blow, we can come back. The fucking Hianja have all gone.” It was the three stripe sergeant who spoke.
“You may be right sergeant. Let’s get out of here.”
